The Better Half
by GreenCynic
Summary: After Madoka's wish in Episode 12 fails to change the Puella Magi system, an increasingly desperate Homura is convinced to take Kyubey's advice about a change to make in her next world.


Prologue: This you must ken

_What kind of world lies outside of the well?_

_Is it something that is worth struggling for?_

_What kind of world lies outside of the well?_

_Is it something so attractive enough to fall and try over and over again?_

_What kind of world lies outside of the well?_

_Let's enjoy taking the pains of finding that out._

_If I reach the world that I yearn for, it must be a spectacular world._

_Even if that world was another pit inside a well._

_The key to the new world is the resolve to get out of the well._

_Being able to get out or not,_

_A new world awaits..._

-Frederica Bernkastel

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

"Homura...I'm sorry."

Madoka Kaname gazed down at her wounded friend. A rivulet of blood ran down Homura's face and her broken leg was crushed beneath a concrete boulder, but the dark-haired magical girl ignored these, seeming far more hurt by the mere implications of Madoka's words.

_She's in such pain…Trying to face that terrible witch, for my sake. And not just now, from what she's said, but more times than I can imagine. But you won't need to protect me anymore, Homura. Not after my wish._ "I will become a Puella Magi."

Homura seemed to collapse inwards at this, any hope that Madoka could have meant something else, anything else, vanishing. "Madoka…that's…"

The grief even in these few words was palpable, but Madoka forced herself to continue speaking over Homura. _I have to go through with this. For the sake of Mami, Sayaka, Kyouko, Homura, and all the magical girls out there who have suffered like them._ "I finally understand. I found a wish I want to have fulfilled…so I'll use this life for that."

"Don't…Then I…I…Then what for?..." Homura's ever-present façade of stoicism was now completely gone, exposing the broken girl for what she was. Tears began streaming down her face, mingling with the blood.

_This is too cruel._ Madoka walked over to her would-be protector and hugged her, trying to convey some reassurance in the gesture.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I think I turned out this way because you protected me and looked over me all this time." _But you won't need to anymore; now, as useless as I am, I can use my power to protect you._ "I'm really sorry." Homura raised her hand to Madoka's own, grasping it tightly as though it was the last time she would ever touch the girl.

_And I suppose it will be, if my wish works the way I hope._

"This is the answer I found. Believe in me. I won't let all your work go to waste."

_But now it's time for my own work to begin._

"Madoka…" Homura whimpered as Madoka slowly pulled her arms away from the girl, turning to face Kyubey.

Kyubey, the all-too-innocent looking creature that she had considered her friend, addressed her now.

_'You're shouldering the destinies of countless worlds, and you're the focal point of all the fate lines. No matter how impossible your wish is, it could probably be fulfilled.'_

"That's right." _And that's exactly what I'm relying on._

_'Now, Madoka Kaname. What do you wish for so much that you'll pay for it with your soul?'_

"I…" Madoka inhaled deeply, the words she'd decided on running through her head.

_This is it._

"I wish to erase every witch before they are born. Every witch in every world, from the past and the future. With my own hands."

As Madoka spoke, a pink light began emanating from her chest, steadily growing to a blinding intensity. She paid it little mind, instead staring triumphantly at the little alien before her.

_'…A wish of this scale has never been attempted in my memory. Do you really want to become a god?'_

"I don't care what I become. All those Puella Magi who believed in their hope and fought against witches. I want them to live on with smiles on their faces. I will destroy the rules that prevent that. I will change them." Madoka's voice, normally hesitant and full of reservation, crescendoed and filled with confidence as she finished her proclamation. "This is my prayer. This is my wish. Fulfill it, Incubator!"

And there was light.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

Homura stared at the girl before her. Madoka was clad in the same Puella Magi outfit as in a hundred other timelines, but there was still something noticeably different about her appearance.

Ah, right. She was shining. That wasn't exactly normal.

The pink light that had begun forming with Madoka's wish was still radiating from the girl, surrounding her with a rosy corona, as bright as any star but somehow not blinding to look upon.

_Is this the power that has let her defeat Walpurgisnacht? No, more importantly…_

_Is this power enough to do what she wished for? Defeat the Incubators' system, break the cycle of hope and despair?_

_…And, maybe, be able to live on with me, despite having contracted?_

Homura, jaded by decades of disappointment, briefly felt a feeling akin to hope rise within herself.

"Is…is this it?"

…And there it went again. Homura focused on Madoka's voice, more disappointed than one would expect of a girl who had just managed to successfully outwit a manipulative alien and reshape the universe to her will.

_'Evidently, yes. Did you expect instant apotheosis?'_

"No, just… more evidence of my wish being granted, I guess."

_'You wished to destroy witches with your own hands, correct? You have not yet taken any actions towards that goal, and I cannot know what other results you might expect.'_

A skyscraper crashed down a few meters from them, the crunching noise of glass and steel mingling with the screeching laughter that filled the air. Madoka jumped as her companions remained impassive; one from being incapable of feeling surprise, the other from being long desensitized to it.

_'Feel free to begin acting on your wish any time. Walpurgisnacht is obviously still active, and would seem to still be causing extreme destruction, likely killing many–'_

Madoka was gone, rocketing into the air and leaving a faint cloud of dust to mark the spot where she had been standing.

Homura could do little but stare after her. _No, Madoka, Walpurgisnacht doesn't matter, you're the only one that's important, I can't lose you again, please don't die, ple-_

Homura jerked, her eyes snapping over to the Incubator's…feelers? now placed on her forehead.

"What-"

That was Homura's last coherent thought before a maelstrom of images exploded inside her mind.

_-Apigtailedgirlinamirror-walkingwithMadokatothenurse'soffice-beingsavedbyMadokaandMami-learningaboutPuellaMagi-Mamidead-Madokafightingalone-Madoka'slifelessbody-apurpleSoulGemforming-__wieldingagolfclub-makingbombs-Madoka'sfirstwitch-stealingweaponry-Oktavia,thefirsttime-MamishootingKyouko-MadokashootingMami-MadokashootingWalpurgisnacht -shootingMadoka'sSoulGem-healingeyes,unbraidinghair-massacringwitches-failingalonetoWalpurgisnacht _-Madoka'swishforstrengthtobeatit-__

The torrent of memories went on and on, replaying her recollections of every timeline she had lived through, only to be cut off abruptly as the Incubator removed its limbs from her, staring. Then, before Homura could shoot it, or question it as to what the hell had just happened and **then** shoot it, the little creature dashed away.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

Madoka materialized her bow as she flew through the air, the rosewood thrumming with power as she nocked an arrow to it.

A cluster of familiars turned their shadowy heads towards the girl, each becoming aware of her presence briefly before bursting as pink shafts of energy pierced them.

Madoka landed atop a mostly-intact skyscraper, willing another half-dozen arrows into existence and shooting down the nearest familiars before they had a chance to dodge.

_This is…easy. Really easy. I don't even need to aim, the arrows just curve towards whatever I'm trying to hit. And I've never used a bow before, but shooting this feels surprisingly natural. Ah-_

She leaped into the air at the urge of some sixth sense, dodging a blast at her back from a familiar which had crept up behind and turning to spear its head with another arrow.

_And I shouldn't have seen that attack coming, either. Is fighting this easy because of my wish? Since I wished to defeat all witches, I can't fail until I've accomplished that?_

A swarm of magical girl facsimiles rose up to fill the air around her, laughing eerily as they formed spheres of purple energy in their hands. Madoka swiftly turned her bow skyward, firing an arrow straight up. A dozen feet above her, it flashed and split into ten, fifty, a hundred arrows, raining down around her in both a shield against the projectiles and an attack against the surrounding familiars, each pincushioned momentarily before exploding.

_…I think that's all the evidence I need that my magic is working without me, maybe even to save me. In that case…_

The remaining familiars which had been speeding towards Madoka came to a dead halt, demonstrating enough survival instincts to avoid a magical hailstorm of deadly weaponry. First being caught in explosions and blown apart by the black-and-white one's bombardment, and now pierced to death by this pink devil. Today was not a good day to be a familiar.

With this realization coursing through their primitive pseudo-brains, they all scattered, and Madoka let out a small cheer.

_…there's no way I can lo-_

It was at this point that Madoka noticed something which had been at the back of her mind: it was quiet. Walpurgisnacht's unceasing laughter had, well, ceased, and even the winds and rain filling the city seemed to have been muted somehow. The universe seemed to be paused, waiting for a cue.

**…ihihihihiHIHIHIHIHIII-**

The stage-constructing witch was happy to oblige, paroxysms of laughter seeming to shake the very air as a beam of eldritch fire blasted towards Madoka. The girl yelped, dashing to one side to dodge the attack, only to frantically jump away to another building as the fire stream followed her movements.

_Oh, come on, that's just not fair– Gah!_

Madoka stumbled and fell as her newfound skyscraper was abruptly wrenched out of the ground, falling to one side and pulling Madoka inexorably towards a neighboring building. A towering wall of black window-glass loomed up before Madoka, reflection expanding as the buildings neared contact.

Shoving herself upward, Madoka leaped away from the impending collision and suspended herself in midair on a small fuchsia force field, covering her head as glass shards rained down around her. As the keening crunches died away, Madoka sighed and looked up, only to be menaced by a new, enormous wave of fire bearing down upon her, filling her entire field of vision.

Not seeing any possible way to dodge the attack - even falling would be too slow to avoid incineration-, Madoka tried the only thing that came to mind; countering it with her own, channeling as much power as she could muster in a moment into her bow and loosing it in one shot. A bus-sized pink shaft of energy blasted through the inferno, dissipating it and ramming into the great witch.

For the second time in as many minutes, Walpurgisnacht's laughter was cut off, its sound covered by that of a massive explosion. This time, however, it did not resume after the fact.

Walpurgisnacht had found this human city hilarious, how its inhabitants scurried around like ants in futile attempts to avoid the disasters she wrought, only to be swamped as her storms hit the buildings they were congregating in. The previous magical girl had amused her as well, with all the pretty fireworks that were sent her way. Ah, how they'd tickled when they hit her. The building had pushed Walpurgisnacht whirling around, as had those big pieces of metal that had flown at her. That enormous fireball had actually annoyed her slightly, but that girl had made such a funny crunching sound when a building hit her, so all ended well.

Now, however, she had been hurt, hurt terribly by this new magical girl's attack. This girl was far more dangerous than the last, even if she couldn't attack or move as quickly, and the white-hot pain in her gears attested to this. It had all been a wonderful joke, but then the pink one had crossed a line, and Walpurgisnacht was no longer laughing.

The winds all around Madoka picked up speed, circulating faster and faster, forming a tornado. The girl cried out as she was lifted off the ground by the air currents, along with surrounding buildings, cars, and debris. Madoka's bow was ripped from her hands, pulled away into the cyclone's depths. She tried to concentrate and create another, but shards of glass, metal, and concrete tore at her body, making it impossible to concentrate on anything besides pain.

Madoka's eyes widened as one of the skyscrapers trapped in the vortex accelerated towards her in a manner that the tornado should make impossible, trailing green-tinged fire behind it. She tried to fly out of the way, but the winds were stronger than she, and the building slammed into her. Madoka thought she heard several cracks over the wind's howling, and felt sharp pains in her abdomen to accompany the searing of magical flames. She screamed, the sound torn away by the wind.

Another building, alight and animated by the witch's power, moved improbably towards Madoka to crush her between the two structures. Walpurgisnacht was cackling audibly again, taking joy in Madoka's obvious suffering.

_Come on-**ow**-think-**aargh**-you're going to die-**ouch**-there has to be something-ah!_

Madoka's eyes lit up, as she remembered another ability of magical girls - superhuman strength.

She grabbed onto a window frame and forced magic into her arms, hoping it would be enough. A moment before the other skyscraper hit, Madoka pushed off and launched herself away, escaping the destruction behind her.

The winds buffeted the girl as she flew, beginning to push her off course, forcing her away from-

They stopped. Madoka had propelled herself into the eye of the storm, obtaining some purchase from the winds. She grinned, and turned to face Walpurgisnacht, hovering in the air.

Madoka's bow reformed, and she absently noticed her magic healing her body. _Like Sayaka…No, focus._ She fixed the enormous witch with a surprisingly menacing glare, and aimed an arrow at it. Madoka channeled all the magic remaining to her into the arrow. Though more power flowed into this shot than the last, Madoka focused it into a shaft the size of her normal arrows, the projectile shifting from rosy pink to a brilliant white. She sighted and loosed it at Walpurgisnacht, shouting wordlessly.

The arrow tore through the windstorm and into the witch, boring easily through Walpurgisnacht's body until hitting the core: the pin at the center of its turning gears.

The mass of energy detonated, erupting in a burst that engulfed Walpurgisnacht and lit up Mitakihara like a miniature sun. The witch's hellish laughter mutated into a keening wail as the energy ate away at her body, before dying out altogether.

Madoka gasped for breath as her body finished knitting itself back together, gazing at the disintegrating remnants of her foe. She had won, she'd defeated the strongest witch. Everything from this point on should be easy. She was alive and uninjured, she had saved anyone else from being hurt, she should be relieved.

…So, why was she in this much pain?

_No…no, it can't be-_

Madoka dismissed her Puella Magi outfit, transforming her Soul Gem from a choker into its egg-shaped form on her palm. She moaned at what she saw.

Madoka's Soul Gem was filled very nearly to the brim with roiling darkness, the pink light that had shone from it so brightly now all but extinguished, a glint here or there all that was keeping her alive.

Madoka spasmed, pain wracking her body as corruption tore at her soul, and shrieked in pain until the merciful blackness of unconsciousness filled her vision and took it all away.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

A purple lance of energy shot from Homura's Soul Gem for the fifth attempt in a row, shifting the massive slab of concrete the last few inches off her broken leg. A swift application of time magic, and her femur was reverted to its uninjured state of a few minutes previously.

_Madoka. I need to find Madoka. She managed to defeat Walpurgisnacht, no surprise there, but she hasn't turned into a witch either. She's still alive._

Homura summoned forth a Grief Seed, Sayaka Miki's she thought, and scanned the area for Madoka.

_I can still save her._

Homura attempted to stop time, who knew how little she had before Madoka's transformation, but her shield's timer was out of sand. Its only remaining use was to restart failed timelines.

_Well, I can still find her normally then- But if I want to use magic to hasten finding her, I'll need to purify my Soul Gem, but if I do that I might be unable to purify hers…_

Homura broke into a run through the ruined city, hoping against hope that she could find Madoka in time.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

_'Well done, Madoka Kaname.'_

"K-Kyubey…"

Madoka was lying on her back in what amounted to a shallow lake. She didn't recognize her surroundings, making apparent just how much Walpurgisnacht had damaged her hometown.

"What's going on? Why is this happening, why am I dying?"

_'You are lying in water after falling unconscious and then falling several meters. You are in this state because you have used sufficient amounts of magic to corrupt your soul gem almost completely. And you are hardly dying, merely preparing for metamorphosis.'_

"But, I haven't fulfilled my wish-"

_'You humans may be the ones to make wishes, but we Incubators have always reserved the right to interpret them. I merely did so in a manner that is…more beneficial.'_

"…What? You changed my wish?" Even a being without emotions could hear the rising anger in Madoka's voice.

_'No, merely altered the parts that were impossible. To begin with, your wish called for attempting to remove yourself from existence, which would cause a paradox. A paradox could easily interfere with your wish being granted, and might even result in the universe being destroyed. Then where would we be?'_

"That's what I planned, though! I could only do everything that I wanted if I wasn't bound by the universe's laws, so I couldn't exist here anymore…And, wait, what about the rest of my wish? I haven't been able to destroy all the other witches, and now I never will!"

_'The witches of the past have already ceased to exist, annihilated completely when their Souls were destroyed, so there is nothing you could have done about them. And rest assured that you _**_will _**_erase all remaining witches before they are born. In fact, thanks to you, there will be no more Witches formed in the entire universe. This is because you will destroy witches before they even become magical girls, kill them at the source, while they are still human. And you will do this with your own hands, as Kriemhild Gretchen, the ultimate witch, an entity powerful enough to reach every world in the universe that we have sent representatives to. All according to your wish.'_

Kyubey's words had horrified Madoka into remaining silent, but this last sentence was too much. "No! This **wasn't** my wish! You said I could change the laws of nature, you told me I could become a god, so I made a wish to do both!"

_'If you had wanted those outcomes from your wish, you should have said so specifically. But you did not, your wish has been granted, and now you have nothing left but to submit and grant it.'_

"No, please- I just wanted to help them, to stop being useless and be able to help people for once in my life... **Why couldn't you have let me help them?**"

_'But you _**_will _**_be helping, Madoka. Helping the entire universe through your sacrifice, and the sacrifices of your world.__ Every human, animal, familiar and Witch on this planet shall be drawn into your barrier and killed by you, thanks to the delusion that you are granting them mercy. __Now, are you going to cling to your human shell for much longer? Entropy isn't about to solve itself.__'_

"…" Madoka, normally one to cry at the drop of a hat, was dry-eyed. Her expression, filled with grief and rage a moment before, now looked merely empty. Another spark of light in her Soul Gem was lost to darkness, but she still held grimly on to life.

_'Oh, that wasn't enough either? How surprising. Well then, I can't say I'll enjoy this, but too much is at stake to lose your energy now...' _Kyubey's eyes glowed, and Madoka **_saw_**_._

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

She saw a mountainous Witchrising above her city, dwarfing it and casting the area into shadow.

_'Kriemhild Gretchen, the witch of salvation. This is your fate, Madoka.' _Kyubey's voice echoed through her mind.

Gazing upon this scene, Madoka noticed a…_shift_. The air, buildings, everything about the city _'No, not merely this city, the entire world'_ seemed to waver briefly, as the witch's barrier formed and encompassed them.

And then people began to die.

Drivers slumped over in their cars, the uncontrolled vehicles careening into each other, walls of houses, or pedestrians who were likewise collapsing.

Horror and despair threatened to overwhelm Madoka, but she pushed it away. _I need to be strong now, like Homura. She prevented herself from succumbing to grief despite seeing horrible things, so can I. I won't become this monster._

_'You humans really do have unmatched stubbornness, don't you? Very well, how about this?'_

Madoka seemed to teleport, the sight of the city replaced with that of a relief building. It looked like her homeroom had been meeting when the evacuation order had come, with Kazuko, Hitomi, and the rest of Madoka's classmates being sent here.

Kazuko, whispering gently to a terrified-looking brown-haired girl, suddenly keeled over onto her shoulder. The younger girl had only a moment to be startled before her eyes rolled up into her head and she sunk to the floor. The other middle-schoolers were suffering the same fate. For one shocking moment, Hitomi seemed to look directly at Madoka, or possibly through her, before falling prone.

Madoka shuddered, and a small moan escaped her lips. Corruption welled up inside her Soul Gem, but was forced back down. _No. Focus, focus. This doesn't need to happen, it won't happen, I can still prevent it, I can save all of them, I just need to be strong…_

_'You are capable of surprising stoicism, Madoka. One more try, then…'_

The room full of her classmates' corpses faded away, and another came into Madoka's view: her kitchen. Tomohisa Kaname appeared to have been cooking when he collapsed onto the lit burner, and a sizzling noise was now coming from his direction. Junko was faceup on the floor, eyes staring at nothing. As for the youngest member of the household…

"Mama…Mama!" Tatsuya pounded feebly on his Junko Kaname's stomach. He knew what had happened, she had fallen asleep and needed to wake up. Tatsuya was used to this, Mama would be sleepy and he'd need to wake her up in the mornings, he'd just need to poke her enough and she'd grumble, sitting up and pulling him into a hug.

Only, this time, as hard as Tatsuya tried, his mother wouldn't wake up.

"Ma-" Tatsuya's eyes widened for a brief moment before closing slowly. He, too, sunk onto his mother's body, dead.

That was the breaking point. The knowledge that Madoka had killed everyone she knew or cared about in the world flooded into her mind. Tears ran freely from her eyes as the last specks of light in her soul were extinguished.

There was a **crack**, the world fell into darkness, and the last sound Madoka Kaname heard was her own tortured scream.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

_I've failed again._

Homura stood on what was left of a pier, absently holding a handgun while staring up at the colossal shadow-figure that was Kriemhild Gretchen.

Madoka's witch. Her Madoka, the girl who had thrown her soul away for the power to fight the monstrosity threatening her city, and had become an even worse monster in turn.

And it was all because Homura, once again, hadn't been strong enough to defeat Walpurgisnacht, to prevent Madoka from contracting as a Puella Magi.

Homura glanced down at the pistol in her hands, summoned forth from her shield in a bout of melancholy. She was tired. Tired of these endless failures, these countless deaths of Madoka, these innumerable battles. Normally she would know better than to think on such subjects, but thanks to one bit of horrifying knowledge on her mind, just gained recently...

The time traveler gritted her teeth, memory of Kyubey's words resurfacing. __"A magical girl's potential depends on the karmic burden she bears...the karma from each world builds up, and weighs on the Kaname Madoka in this timeline..._you gathered world after parallel world together, all centered around Madoka Kaname_...Excellent work, Homura. You've made Madoka the strongest Witch ever."__

Yes. Her travels, planned originally to save Madoka from her tragic fate, had by their very nature driven each world's Madoka further into despair. It was tempting, too tempting, just to end her doomed journey right here and now…

Homura sighed and shook her head absently. With an effort of will, she pushed the depressive thoughts back down, attempting to focus on the future's prospects instead. _But her suffering only matters if I fail to save her from it. Which I won't; I'll find some way to save her in the next world. I must._

_ Now__, that's more than enough self-pity, the last thing I need is to become a Witch as well. This timeline's worthless, Madoka's worse than dead, the world will be going the same way (oh, who cares about the world…)_

The dark-haired girl closed her eyes, concentrating on the silver buckler strapped to her left arm, willing magical power into it in a manner made instinctive by countless repetitions. Gears began to churn, and a faint nimbus of purple light swiftly formed around her.

_All that's left is to try-_

_'Leaving so soon?'_

Homura started at the echoing voice in her head, her eyes snapping open. Her shield's gears ground down as power ceased flowing into them, but Homura hardly noticed, focused on the white creature sitting idly in front of her.

"Incubator." Anger resonated in her normally toneless voice, anger borne of countless horrors and losses, and the knowledge that the alien before her was to blame for it all.

Homura cocked her pistol at the ferret-like being. "What do you want?"

_'There's no need for violence, Homura Akemi. We are both aware that you cannot cause me pain, and I can merely create another body if this one is sufficiently damaged.'_ The little creature stared at her, its facial expression frozen, but Homura couldn't shake the feeling that it would be smirking at her if so capable.

_'There certainly is enough energy for it now.'_ Kyubey waved a paw towards the gargantuan witch, blinking as said paw exploded in a shower of crimson.

Smoke wafted up from the Beretta clenched in Homura's hand. "Yes, I **realize** that you've fulfilled your damned energy quota, again, thanks to Madoka's sacrifice. Thus you have no reason to stay here any longer, and neither do I. So I ask again, what do you want?"

_'For one that fancies herself so aloof and unfazed around other humans, you certainly are quick to descend into rage against myself.'_ Noticing Homura's finger begin to tighten on the trigger again, the Incubator hurriedly continued. _'I am merely attempting to give you advice for the next timeline your actions create.'_

Homura's expression shifted from anger to confusion, then swiftly to disbelief, as she processed this. "…Over the past few weeks, I've killed dozens of your bodies and prevented you from contracting Madoka several times. I've opposed you and your goals as thoroughly as I could, and it's obvious that I'll continue until I finally stop you. Now, I'm not sure about your kind, but that wouldn't make most humans incredibly eager to offer help."

_'Ah, I see. You believe me to be capable of..."spite", I believe is the word? Such suspicion is unwarranted, I assure you. The inconveniences your actions caused were superficial at worst, given that the end result remained productive. With my quota for staving off entropy completed, as well as you confined in an alternate universe, what would be the risk of offering aid?' _Kyubey's tail swished back and forth as it stared at her.

"That still doesn't explain why you'd help me jeopardize the goals of the next timeline's Incubators."

_'As with the humans of this planet, that would be their problem, not ours. Our universe has been saved, and we have hardly been assigned responsibility for all others in existence.' _Swish, swish, swish._ 'Additionally, Akemi Homura, your presence and actions in these recursions of time are intriguing to us.'_

"…Intriguing?" Homura had never really bothered worrying about what the aliens thought of her, and anyone who might have asked would have gotten back little more than a deprecating gimlet stare. Unless their name happened to be Madoka, but that was obviously a different story.

_'You have demonstrated longevity several times greater than any other human in history, and this is even more true when compared to other magical girls. You have gained a unique perspective on the universe, and continued on your self-assigned task without falling into despair despite all factors making this unlikely. Simply put, you are an enigma, and yes, intriguing.'_

"I'm flattered," Homura muttered. _So, the little bastard and the rest of its kind are interested in me. Fantastic. But- _"That doesn't explain why you'd want to help me, though. All of those qualities you just mentioned would just make me more of a threat to your kind, correct?"

_'No. Given the knowledge gleaned about your past attempts to – ah - "save" Madoka Kaname, it seems apparent that you will ultimately be unable to prevent her from contracting.'_

"I'll figure out a way to beat Walpurgisnacht eventually, without resorting to her help," Homura stated calmly. She believed this wholeheartedly. She had to.

_'No, you do not understand. Her magical potential is far too great a resource to ignore, and is extreme enough to remain such even as she ages. Even if you do eventually defeat Walpurgisnacht without her aid, you will have had enough trouble preventing her from contracting during the space of one and a half months. Will you be able to keep her from it for the rest of her life?_

"I…" Homura had never considered this. Over the course of the timelines, defeating Walpurgisnacht had become irrevocably linked in her mind with saving Madoka. Without its threat, there would be no reason for Madoka to contract…

_No. I'm an idiot for thinking that way. Madoka's been willing to throw her life away to save a stray cat, it wouldn't take a city-destroying witch to make her contract. She always has been and always will be that way, thinking that suffering herself is ultimately better than anyone else having to._

Kyubey watched the girl's face fall as the realization hit her. _'There is another possibility, however. If another girl who can singlehandedly counteract entropy is convinced to contract, there will be no need to target Madoka Kaname.'_

Homura let out a bitter laugh. "It's too bad that nobody else has godlike potential, then, isn't it? I'd let another girl take Madoka's burden without a second thought, but that's impossible. You told me that the parallel universes are all centered around her-"

_'Her. And you.'_

"…What?"

_'Kaname Madoka is not the only one destined to carry countless worlds' misfortune as a result of your time travelling. You, too, have consigned yourself to carry their misfortune, and your every action increases its quantity.'_

"…But, even if I would have more potential now, it's useless. I've already contracted at a time when I had almost no potential, and I know that you can't undo a contract. I already tried that during the first few timelines when-"

_'Yes, when you could not even prevent Madoka from contracting for more than a day or two. I am aware. The point is, however, that while you have already contracted, your counterpart in the next world has not.'_

"…I have no counterpart in the next world. It's always been just me, there hasn't been some other Homura Akemi whenever I've travelled back in time."

_'Actually, I believe that there has been, you just never realized it. You see, I theorize that your Soul Gem is the only part of you to travel back in time. Upon reentering the time stream, it merges with the already existing body, subsuming its soul in the process. This would be the most efficient way of granting your wish, as it takes significantly less energy to transport a massless soul than a human body.'_

"Wait, this is just based on a guess? Am I supposed to take it all on faith?"

_'It is predicated on the fact that your Soul Gem was beginning to fade away when I interrupted your attempt to time travel, and the rest of your body was unaffected.'_

"Well, that could just happen gradually-"

_'And that the memories of yours which I observed contained numerous repetitions of their first fourteen years, incidentally the same quantity as that of timelines you have experienced. These would have originated from each timeline's preexisting memories of life so far, absorbed into your dominant Soul and glossed over as unnecessary.'_

"…Oh." Homura took a moment to contemplate what else could possibly have caused this, and came up short. "I suppose that would make sense."

_'And to answer your other question, you are required to take this on faith, so to speak, but you undoubtedly know that I can speak no word that is untrue.'_

"Withholding the truth has the same effect as lying," Homura grumbled. Her heart wasn't in the accusation, though; she knew that she had deceived the girls at least as much as their contractor, and her mind was still focusing on the new information she had received.

"So, if I traveled back in some different way and didn't possess my younger self's body, she would have the same godlike potential as Madoka?"

_'Just as all iterations of Madoka Kaname have had their magical potential increasing in each world, the same holds true for all versions of Akemi Homura. All you would need to do is slightly modify your method of time travelling, and your alternate self will likely be contracted in place of Madoka Kaname.'_

Homura thought this all sounded believable, reasonable, and far too altruistic to be true for the deceptive little alien. It was tempting, granted, but the Incubator was skilled enough at manipulation to know that she would be tempted. With her current method, the risk of Madoka contracting after Walpurgisnacht was worrying, but Homura could think of her own solution to that. Possibly exterminating every Incubator on the planet, or something along those lines. She couldn't bring herself to trust the alien's suggestion, and was about to say where it could shove its advice before time-warping away, but one thought stopped her: how could this make things any worse?

She had lived through hundreds of iterations of the same month, trying every plan or action she could conceive of to prevent Madoka's contracting. Telling the girls the truth of Puella Magi, destroying all Mitakihara's witches and familiars single-handedly, allying with Mami, Kyouko, Sayaka, or any other girls that she could coerce into contracting (even if all of those had been even weaker than Sayaka). No two timelines had gone exactly the same way, thanks to her machinations-

-except their endings, the only parts that ultimately mattered, with Madoka always either being killed outright or giving up her soul and humanity to contract.

Well, there was one timeline where both had happened, of course, but Homura preferred not to dwell on the memory of _Madoka smiling through her tears, holding up her tainted Soul Gem in a wordless plea for Homura to help her, keep her from becoming a witch and destroying the world she loved so much…_

A gunshot and an agonized scream echoed through Homura's mind, the scream of a girl who didn't exist anymore, who had given up what little humanity remained to fulfill her task.

And now she was considering bringing that girl, that pigtailed and glasses-wearing Homura, back in the next world. 100 percent free of mind-shattering traumatic memories, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Her fearfulness and tearfulness revived, after all the effort Homura had put into dissociating herself from them. Brought back to life, to cry and angst and be generally useless…

But, no, she wouldn't necessarily be useless. After all, that was the point of all this, wasn't it? Her use would be acting as Madoka's replacement in saving the universe, sacrificing her life instead of Madoka having to.

Homura had always cared far more for Madoka than herself. The choice was obvious- no, it was no choice at all.

"What do I need to do?"

The Incubator's eyes gleamed. _'We are pleased that you found it within yourself to accept our offer. Now, the modification should be simple. I observed a complex field of magical energy surrounding your Soul Gem several moments previously, presumably to transport it back in time. All that should be necessary is you extending this field, via mental control, to encompass your entire body.'_

Homura frowned, closing her eyes and focusing on her Soul Gem, willing magic into it once again. She had travelled in time so many times that she barely bothered to think about it, but this was different. She felt the magic coalescing around her Soul Gem, pulled it, stretched it, shaped it around herself. Her power felt unstable, so she poured more in, strengthening it until it felt complete, and released the spell.

The purple gem **pulsed**, flashed with more energy than had ever been channeled through it. Homura Akemi, body and soul, was pulled into the all-too-familiar tunnel of time, winking out of existence.

**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**／人◕ _ ◕人＼**●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●•●**

A small white alien, called Kyubey by some, sat in the center of what had once been Mitakihara Town, seemingly peering up at its handiwork: a gradually expanding sphere of darkness emitting from a towering newborn Witch. Unnoticeable to any other being on the planet, however, was the fact that Kyubey was not idle: instead, the alien was busily engaged in a flow of telepathic communication.

_'I find the other units' low success rates in human interactions perplexing: the only necessary action is to remove all appearance of choice from their decisions.'_

_Elaborate, 9B. Further information may be beneficial to future acquisition efforts._

_'I was referring to Homura Akemi, the irregular human mentioned in previous reports which I eventually determined to be from an alternate timeline. Her goal is to prevent the contracting of another girl; one whose universal importance makes her far too great an asset to ever consider ignoring. Once I impressed on her that this would inevitably hold true, she was willing to accept my suggestion on how to doom her next world to entropy.'_

_What a misguided goal. Humans must be the most irrational of species, it still surprises many of us how you are willing to work with them._

_'Well, there are other benefits to human contracts: namely, the unequaled potential found among some of them.'_ Kyubey lacked the glands necessary to feel satisfaction, but speculated that any other organism would have them flaring up at this next statement._ 'On that note, further energy acquisition...will be unnecessary, I am satisfied to report. Actions to permanently fill our quota- not merely my own, but ours- have been set in motion, and they shall reach all beings capable of producing Grief. The self-proclaimed Witch of Salvation shall convert the lesser organisms' emotions directly into harvestable energy.'_

_Truly? Ah, excuse that redundant question, news of such a scope was merely quite unexpected. Excellent work, 9B. An announcement will go out that the heat death of this universe has been prevented. However, a query does occur to us on a related subject: what about the alternate universe to which you sent this irregular?_

_'Ah, yes...there is no cause for alarm about that. Despite having convinced herself otherwise, Homura Akemi will have an unpleasant surprise or two awaiting her in the next universe, which should be saved just as efficiently as this one.'_ The Incubator's eyes glowed.

_'And with a more permanent solution, at that.'_

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<br>This story idea was inspired largely by a theory I saw a while ago, likely on TVtropes' Madoka thread, which speculated that Homura's Soul Gem was the only part of her that travelled back in time, merging with the body of each new timeline. So, I wondered if Homura could change this mechanic to create a timeline with both her and Moemura. I liked the idea of Homura's previous character from Episode 10 and Drama CD 1, and wanted to explore further how she would interact with the other girls.

In addition, while I like how the series ended, there have been arguments about why Kyubey would grant Madoka's wish if it would jeopardize its entire system. Combine this with Kyubey's penchant for twisting words / truths in conversation, and, well, you get what happened here.

The title is somewhat pretentiously taken from a quote by Goethe: "Night is the other half of life, and the better half." The opening poem is from _Higurashi no Naku Koro ni_, the property of Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion.

The characters and setting of this story are the property of Gen Urobuchi and Studio SHAFT. I own nothing.

Thanks to Bonesxbreak for beta reading this.

If you have anything to say about this story, good or bad, even something as simple as saying it seems interesting, uninteresting, contrived or grimderp, I'd really appreciate reviews.


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